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Johnson & Johnson said on Wednesday it had agreed to buy drugmaker Momenta Pharmaceuticals Inc. for around $ 6.5 billion, giving J&J entry into a potentially high-selling new class of drugs to treat certain autoimmune diseases.
The transaction price of $ 52.50 per share in cash represents a premium of about 70% over Tuesday’s closing price of $ 30.81 for Momenta, a Cambridge, Massachusetts-based biotechnology company focused on the development of treatments for rare immune-mediated diseases.
J&J, from New Brunswick, NJ, has built a lucrative business selling treatments for autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and psoriasis, with drugs like Remicade and Stelara. But growth has slowed in recent years due to competition from Remicade copies.
By acquiring Momenta, J&J has access to an investigational drug, nipocalimab, which Momenta has studied for several rare autoimmune diseases, including a type of anemia known as hot autoimmune hemolytic anemia. J&J said the deal would expand the position of its Janssen Pharmaceutical unit in immune-mediated diseases and allow the unit to expand into diseases caused by autoantibodies.
Nipocalimab is part of a newer class of autoimmune drugs called FcRn antibodies, which several other companies, including Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc., are developing.
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